Playing the Game (The Renegades) (Volume 3) (23 page)

“
Do you always count them out so
fast?” Paige asked. She folded her arms and shifted her weight to
her hip.

“
Um, no.” The young man
stuttered.

Turning to the ice, her arms still crossed, she
locked eyes with Tyler. A smile instantly spread across his face.
Quickly he looked away to avoid the Florida player coming at him
from his left. Tyler ducked out of the way, sending him into the
boards.

Paige intently watched Ty’s every move. After
avoiding the hit, he looked up at her again and winked. She had
just enough time to flash a bashful smile at him before he sped off
down the ice.

Maybe I should’ve worn the jersey he sent me.

She leaned closer to the glass so she could see the
other end of the ice. Florida had control of the puck and was
racing towards Kaden, but Tyler cut the forward off and stole the
puck. He passed it to Kris who banked it off of the boards, sending
it back down the ice. Tyler caught up to it and took control before
Florida could. He rocketed to the net and snapped the puck in.

Goal!

Paige cheered loudly with her hands waving in the air
before she realized what she was doing. She composed herself, just
as Tyler skated around the net and right by her. Staring at her, he
smiled and made a small gesture with his gloved hand pointing at
her. Her face burned from embarrassment; he’d caught her cheering
like a stupid fan-girl. Clearing her throat, she did her best to
wipe the grin off her face. But it didn’t work.

The whistle blew and most of the players returned to
the bench while a few lingered out on the ice. The large door in
front of her opened, and the ice crew skated out of the tunnel onto
the ice. They gathered up all of the shaved ice on their shovels
and piled it in buckets. While this was happening, a rock song
blared over the arena speakers. The few verses of the heavy ballad
made her stomach do somersaults. It was almost as if someone was
playing it on purpose, because it was the same song that was on
that damn mix tape Tyler sent her.

The verses that played before the music shut off were
about having butterflies around you and falling for you. Avoiding
the ice, she could feel his stare.
This is crazy, I’m acting
like a love-sick teenager, and I should just go back to my
office
. But her feet refused to move.

Was she lovesick? She thought about him day and night
although she knew it was a mistake to get involved with him. She’d
stay for one more goal, and then she’d go back to her office and
hide out. It didn’t take long. In Tyler’s next shift he won the
puck from the face off and tossed it towards Kris as they raced to
the net. Kris lifted his head, looking for Tyler, then slid the
puck across the ice. Tyler slapped it right through the goalie’s
pads into the back of the net.

GOAL!

The Renegades were up 3–2. She was careful not to get
too crazy with the cheering; she simply clapped. It didn’t matter.
Tyler still made her feel like a giddy schoolgirl. She smiled as he
skated past where she was standing, tapped on the glass lightly
with his stick, and flashed her a huge grin before he skated back
to the bench.

She’d told herself one more goal, and that was it.
She hurried back to her office and closed the door. Opening her
laptop, she pretended to work, but her mind kept wandering to his
smile. The game played on her television; it was almost over and
the Renegades held Florida to those two goals. Sam Morris scored
the team’s fourth goal, with assists from Tyler and Patrick. The
Renegades won 4–2.

She switched off the television and went back to her
emails. Melanie was handling the media tonight so she could clear
out these requests. Soon there was a knock on her door.

“
Paige?” One of the arena workers
stuck his head in.

“
Mark, what can I do for you?” She
welcomed the distraction. Staring at the computer screen was giving
her a headache.

“
I’m sorry for disturbing you, but
I was instructed to deliver this to you.” He handed her a
box.

“
Oh?” She took the box from him.
What is this? “Okay. Well, thanks.” As he started towards the door
she spoke up. “Mark, who is it from?”

“
I’m sorry Paige, I don’t know. I
was just told to deliver it to you.” He slipped out of the office
as quickly as he’d entered.

It had to be from Tyler. What now? She opened the box
to find an assortment of chocolates, in shapes of hockey sticks and
pucks, hearts and kissy lips. As well, there was a CD. Another
cheesy mix tape? She found a note inside. A knot formed in her
throat as she read, “There’s a space in my heart, and I only want
you to fill it.”

She pulled out the CD and put it into her computer;
it was the latest number one love song. She listened to it all the
way through and couldn’t help replaying it. Where was he coming up
with this stuff? The scary thing was it was working. The heavy beat
and the lyrics about falling in love and taking chances made her
think of nothing but him. He knew how to play the game.

She played it over and over as she somehow
concentrated enough to go through her emails. After finishing a
reply to the last one, she looked at the clock. Wow, she’d been
here longer than she planned, but at least all the players would be
gone by now, and there would be no worry of running into Tyler.

She grabbed her things, and the box of chocolates,
and turned off the lights. Slowly walking to the parking garage
through the empty arena, she couldn’t help but hum that song as she
nibbled on a chocolate hockey stick. Without thinking, she started
to sing quietly.

The place looked empty with only a few cars
remaining, until she saw him.

“
Late night?” Tyler asked with a
grin, as he leaned against his Aston Martin. His arms were crossed,
and his t-shirt was snug, clinging to his muscular chest. His hair
was still damp. Honestly, he looked sexy as hell.

“
Yeah.” Paige unlocked her car,
pausing once she reached it. “Good game.”

“
Thanks. Good Chocolate?” He nodded
to the half nibbled chocolate hockey stick she was still
holding.

Heat rushed to Paige’s face. “It’s delicious.” His
hazel eyes crinkled at the edges, and she couldn’t help a shy
smile. “I, er, haven’t had a chance to say thanks for all the
gifts.” She moved her things to her other arm. “So, um,
thanks.”

He just smiled and looked like he wanted her to say
something more.

She opened her car door. “Um, is there a reason
you’re standing out here waiting around by my car?”

“
Just wanted to say
goodnight.”

“
Well, goodnight Tyler,” Paige
said, before slipping into her Audi. She saw Tyler smile a bright
smile as she drove away.

CHAPTER 27

Tyler skated around the net, looking for someone to
pass the puck to. They were down 3–1 and he was getting frustrated
with losing. Patrick was open in front, but everyone else was being
covered. Since things had been better between them Coach Walker had
decided to play them on the same line tonight.

“
Pat!” Tyler called, before
slapping it in his direction.

Patrick skillfully took that pass and tried to shoot
it, but the Carolina player slashed his stick, breaking it. Patrick
dropped the stick and threw his hands in the air, looking for a
penalty. The refs ignored him and none was called. “He broke my
stick! It was an obvious slash.”

“
Enough, Dubois.” The ref brushed
him off and skated away.

“
What the fuck?” Patrick huffed as
he skated back to the bench. “That was such bullshit!”

Tyler skated to the ref. Pat was right, it was a
bullshit call. “Didn’t you see that slash?”

The ref shook his head, but Tyler didn’t back
off.

“
His stick didn’t just break all on
its own. He would’ve made that goal if he was able to actually
shoot the puck.”

“
That remains to be seen. But
there’s still no call. Bye, Kidd.” He tried to skate away, but
Tyler followed.

“
Are you blind?”

“
Watch it. You’re on thin ice,
Kidd.”

“
That was such bullshit. Do you
have a Carolina shirt on under those stripes?”

“
Tyler…” The ref warned.

“
I’m just trying to stick up for my
team and what’s right. It was a plain and clear slash. There’s no
fucking way you didn’t see it. This is fucking garbage.”

“
That’s it, I’m tired of you.” The
ref pointed to the penalty box and yelled to Tyler. “You’re
sitting!” He skated to the middle of the ice and announced, “Two
minutes, Tyler Kidd. Unsportsmanlike Conduct.”

Ugh, fuck me
. Tyler looked at Coach Walker.
“It should’ve been a penalty for slashing his stick, Coach.”

“
I know Ty, but you have to play
their game.” Coach Walker shrugged. Then he called out to the ref,
“Hey James, Carolina signing your checks these days? Or do you just
need glasses?”

The ref pointed at Coach, telling him to cut it
out.

Tyler sat in the penalty box watching the others
play. They had a rhythm he hadn’t seen in a while, like all the
pieces were finally starting to fit.

It wasn’t enough for them to win the game though.
With each loss their playoff hopes were slowly fading. Tyler didn’t
feel like answering questions after the game, but as captain, it
was his duty to put on a smile and go through the motions. Kaden
had to also. He always got the dreaded question, “How do you feel
about tonight’s loss?” What did they really want him to say? Great?
Wonderful?

Paige entered the room before Melanie and stood
before all of the media folks. Loudly she spoke. “It’s a quick one
tonight, and only three players are available to you, Tyler Kidd,
Patrick Dubois and Kaden O’Conner. One question each, and make it
quick. When I say it’s over, turn and leave.”

“
And,” Melanie added from the back
of the crowd, her arms crossed, “if you have a problem with it and
argue with us, plan on not coming back this season. Your
credentials will be revoked until fall. Got it?”

A low murmur ran through the crowd.

“
Ready guys?” Paige looked around
at the three of them, her eyes stopping on Tyler.

“
Bring ‘em on,” Kaden mumbled.
Kaden really had played great tonight, but they just couldn’t make
the goals work in their favor.

Ty knew they were all worried about the playoffs, but
no one talked about it. It was always the white elephant in the
room. He answered every question fired at him with grace and class.
Keeping a smile on his face was part of the game, and he was good
at it. When the questions started to get repetitive, he shot Paige
a glance, hoping she’d recognize that he was done.

“
Ladies and Gentleman, we’re done.
Thank you, and have a good night,” Paige called through the
room.

Melanie held the locker room doors open until the
last reporter left. “I hope that wasn’t too painful guys.
Thanks.”

“
No problem, Mel.” Tyler smiled.
“Thanks, Paige.”

“
Just doing my job,” she said.
Grabbing her papers, she hurried out the door with Melanie
following. “See you all later.”

“
I don’t know about you guys, but I
need a drink,” Sam said, as he emerged from the showers in a towel.
“Since I’m not allowed to drink in my house, anyone want to go to
Mannie’s with me?”

“
Thank God you have a towel on this
time.” Matt joked.

“
At least I look better than you,
old-timer.” Sam looked around. “Kris? Ty? Want to go?”

“
Wait. Why can’t you drink in your
house?” Kaden asked.

He may have just let the cat out of the bag
.
Sam squirmed under the eyes of every teammate, looking to Tyler. He
knew Sam was stuck; these guys weren’t going to let up.

“
I didn’t think Trina was like
that? Isn’t she a drinker herself?” Matt asked.

“
Is she going all ‘wifey’ on your
ass now that you put a ring on it?” Dominic called from the
corner.

“
Shut up, assholes. Leave Tri
alone.” Sam defended.

“
Sam, I think you’re better off
just telling them, unless you want to be ridiculed for the next few
months,” Tyler suggested. He knew they meant nothing by it; Sam was
just new and it was fun to harass him. Spending so much time
together they were like family, and sometimes they were known to
act like a group of twelve year old boys.

“
But we weren’t going to tell—” Sam
started to say.

“
These guys aren’t going to tell
anyone. Well, except maybe Matt here. He’s got loose lips when it
comes to Lindsey, just ask Kris.”

“
Don’t remind me.” Kris shot Matt a
sharp look but then laughed.

Sam shook his head. “I totally don’t have any idea
what that’s all about, and I don’t think I want to know.”

“
It wasn’t my fault! Lindsey is the
one who couldn’t keep it to herself.” Matt defended.

“
Seriously? You’re going to blame
your girl? You’re the one who told her, big mouth!” Kris said. His
face was serious, but anyone could tell he was trying hard not to
laugh.

“
Whatever. That’s none of my
business.” Sam turned to his locker, grabbed his clothes and
started pulling them on.

“
Guys, my sister is pregnant. Sam
is going to be a daddy.” Tyler beamed.